A Belated Valentine's Day
by animeflower107
Summary: Valentine's Day is one of Natsu's least favorite days, so why is he writing a freaking poem ten days later? One-shot!


A Belated Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is one of Natsu's least favorite days, so why is he writing a freaking poem?

_A wild AnimeFlower appears!_

_AnimeFlower uses speak! _

Hey guys! Long time, no see. I'm really sorry for my disappearance; I had a terrible case of schoolwork and writer's block. The combination of the two is really just horrible. Anyways, I'm back! I really wanted to write something for Valentine's Day, but I never finished it. So I just decided to start over, and this was the result! I actually wrote this poem for a school assignment a long time ago, and I vowed I'd use it for something. So here you go! Do enjoy! And for the readers of Flittering Misfortune, I will be updating that soon. I've had the majority of the chapter written for months, but then I came down with writer's block and then school decided I needed a lot more tests and homework… :/ Anyways, yeah. I'll update that soon.

Without further ado, Happy!

Happy: Aye! AF1Chan does not own Fairy Tail, but she does own her story and her poem! Please enjoy the story!

_AnimeFlower uses write! (p.s. sorry for the sucky summary and excuses! ._.)  
_

~~~~~~Smh Enjoy the Story~~~~~~~

Natsu couldn't believe what he was getting himself into.

It all started around ten days ago on that accursed holiday, Valentine's.

Every year since he had joined Fairy Tail, Natsu had hated that day. It was the day when everyone and their mother were all over each other with lovey -doveyness. And who the hell wanted that? No one in their right mind, at least in Natsu's opinion. But the disturbing thing about it was that on Valentine's Day, he had come to find that everyone lost their mind year after year. For one day, no one cared about fighting or fire or sake or food just for the sake of candy and chocolate and hugs and kisses. Even Gray!

Disgusting, right?

Natsu simply shook his head as he walked to his room. Although the ugly day had passed, Natsu couldn't help but notice something was different about this year. In the past, he had always tried to pretend that it was just another day, complete with a lot more running and hiding. After all, he certainly had no romantic interests as a child, but many had held their hearts out for him. One particularly disturbing example was that of Mirajane. Natsu cringed as he remembered the time she had chased him around with a butcher knife because he had not eaten the chocolate she made him, and then tried to kiss the bruises she had given him after she managed to catch him. But this year, when Juvia was all over Gray and Evergreen was all over Elfman and Erza was fantasizing about weddings and cakes and blue haired men, Natsu could not shake the uncomfortable feeling that he had a special someone, too.

He remembered the day as if it were yesterday. The pink haired mage had been in the guild since the wee hours of the morning, so that Happy could start courting Carla early in the hopes she would warm up to him. Over the course of just a few hours, he had already had enough. Juvia had tried to kiss Gray multiple times, which Gray had completely failed to notice; Romeo was sweet talking Wendy; Happy was somehow causing Carla to blush; Gajeel and Levy were awkwardly staring at each other with blushes that could rival even that of Erza's hair. Bleck. Worst of all, Makarov had found some girl that looked to be at least 60 years younger than him, and was shamelessly staring at her chest. Really, at this point Natsu was considering going home, for he did not want to see what other surprises the day had held for him. But then, he saw her. She had walked into the guild, whip at her side, golden hair in a bun with her usual outfit traded out for a more Valentine's-esque one, and, not to mention, heading straight for him.

_Beautiful…_ Natsu had thought before he had realized it.

And that one thought had scared Natsu to no end.

Quickly, he had found himself making excuses to leave before she had managed to even reach the table. As he bolted, he took notice how strange her face looked. It wasn't the usual rosy, bright, Lucy look. It was one of confusion and something else Natsu could not put his finger on.

He remember how as soon as he had reached the door of his home, he instantly regretted his actions. As a matter of fact, at the time, he didn't understand them fully. Lucy was his nakama, his pal, his friend, his comrade, yet for some reason, when she had walked in the room, all of his senses told him to bolt. Certainly, there was nothing wrong with calling anyone beautiful. Fairy Tail was full of beautiful women. From Erza to Cana to Juvia to Mira to even Wendy, his guild was well known for its lady lookers. Yet, for some reason, when his mind had uttered the word beautiful, it felt different, as if he had some mild form of motion sickness.

Confused and seeking to find answers, he decided to trudge over to Lucy's house that evening. It was dark and cold by the time Natsu had decided to leave, and by the time he had reached her apartment, it was even colder. The mage knocked on the door and waited, but when he sensed her coming, he bolted. There it was again; that weird feeling that had made him want to throw up and run away. As he darted back to his house, he couldn't help but feel as if he were doing something wrong. Quickly, he had jumped into his house, closed the door and locked it tight. He didn't know where Happy was, but he really didn't care. All that mattered was keeping that horrid feeling out.

Although the realization had not hit him until he had laid in bed that night, it was a realization no less and a frightening one at best. He… he liked Lucy… a lot. Not only did he realize he liked her, he also realized that she was very special to him, even more than food. However, he thought that it was due to the temporary curse of Valentine's Day. For several days, he had avoided the guild and Happy like the plague. He couldn't risk the curse affecting him in public. Even still, Natsu found those days to be long, tedious and filled with thoughts of Lucy. From her smell to her smile to corrupt, non-Natsu thoughts about her curves, Natsu had to bear with it all. He couldn't understand. For most people, after Valentine's Day, all the affection went away. The curse was gone; everything was normal again. Even so, Natsu found that he was having no such luck. And due to this, he could not return to the guild, for risk of seeing Lucy and doing who knows what.

During this period, his guild mates continuously knocked at his door to make sure he was okay. Happy, who he had not noticed was missing since the 14th, had managed to get inside and inform him of what had happened in his absence. Apparently, after he had left, all hell broke loose in the guild. Lucy was angry the whole day and many, many men had visited the guild and tried to flirt with her. One guy even groped her, and Gray attacked the guy, which made Juvia livid with jealousy. She pounced on the unsuspecting Lucy, and a fight broke out in the guild. Mirajane nearly killed everyone for ruining the Valentine's Day mood and tensions were still high by the end of the day. Later that night, Gajeel serenaded Levy with a crappy song, and Juvia rode into the guild in one of those pageant carriages, _with nothing but whip cream on_, causing every guy in the guild nosebleeds and causing Gray to want to die. Other things happened too, but Happy couldn't recall everything. Natsu shook his head in disbelief at all the stuff he'd missed. On one hand, he was angry that men had flirted with and even _groped _Lucy, and on the other hand, he wanted to slap himself because he was sure that Lucy's anger had something to do with him. And, on a mysterious third hand, he wanted to go laugh in Gray's face about Juvia's show.

"You know, Lucy told me that she wanted to hang out with you on Valentine's Day." Happy had smirked evilly, causing him to blush.

Natsu growled at him angrily as he grinned, "You liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike her!"

In shame, Natsu hung his head. Seeing as the pink haired boy was actually distressed, the Exceed stopped his teasing in order to give him advice. "I think you should give her something, even though it's late… She was sad because no one bought her anything." And with that, the blue feline flew out the window to do who knows what, leaving Natsu to his thoughts.

For several more days, Natsu pondered what he could get Lucy. Sure, he could get her the stereotypical chocolate and flowers, but Natsu was not stereotypical, and Lucy was very, very special to him. Too special for chocolate and flowers.

After another day of thinking, a solution hit him. Instead of buying her something, maybe he could write her a poem! After all, Lucy was a writer, she would appreciate a piece of literature Right?

That accumulation of events lead to him waking up extra early to attempt to pen a poem today, February 24th, ten days after the accursed holiday. He had no idea what he was doing, writing a damn poem. He hadn't even read a poem with the exception of nursery rhymes! Although that was a little shameful, he decided to continue writing, despite his lack of poetry knowledge. Stupid Valentine's Day, making him do weird shit.

About an hour in to his writing session, Happy flew in through the window. "Whatcha doin Natshu?" He grinned giddily.

"Nothing much Happy," The boy replied, continuing to concentrate on his work.

"OO! What's that?!" He exclaimed, snatching the piece of paper from the boy.

"O-OI!" Natsu yelled, only to be ignored by the feline.

"Valentine's is strange/Love is weird/ But thankfully," Happy paused to glance at Natsu who was looking away uncomfortably, "I don't have a beard." The cat put the paper down and began to laugh hysterically.

"H-Happy!" Natsu growled.

The cat glanced around to find a mess of papers on the floor. Shaking his head at the mess, he picked up crumbled piece of paper and began to read. "Lucy is cute/ Lucy is funny/ Maybe she'll be my play-" He paused, seeing the dangerous look Natsu was giving him. "Wow Natsu. That's… interesting."

"I need help…" The Salamander sighed in defeat.

Happy smirked evilly. "Luckily, I have just the thing for this kind of situation," he paused, leaning in closer to the boy, "but it'll cost you…"

Natsu arched his eyebrow suspiciously. "What? And how much?"

"Well…" Happy began, eyeing the area suspiciously, "I know a thing or two about poetry."

Natsu looked to him in disbelief before asking, "The cost to sell your knowledge is…?"

"Ten fish and 30J." He replied coolly.

Natsu shook his head. This conversation was becoming more and more suspicious by the minute. "You know what? Whatever. I'll get it for you later. Now what do you know?"

"Ah-Ah-Ah… Deposit of 20J." The cat said, rubbing his paws together.

Grumbling, Natsu forked over the money from his pockets. Effectively satisfied, Happy leaned in to whisper his secret.

"True poetry," he paused, causing Natsu to develop an irritated mark over his head, "it comes from the heart."

"HAPPY!" Natsu yelled. "I just paid you 20J! Help me out here!"

Shaking his head, Happy continued. "Fine. Here's some books on poetry Natshu. But if you want to wow Lushy, you're feelings has to comes from the heart."

"Whatever. Thanks. Stop talking like that." Natsu replied, taking the large books that Happy had pulled from his backpack

"Listen to me~~~. And I want my fish~~~." Happy said in a ghostly voice as he flew out the door.

Shaking his head at his friend, Natsu sat back down at the table and began to read. This was much more inconvenient than he thought. Three hours, two hundred pages and many, many poems later, Natsu believed he had written the perfect one. Or at least one that he hoped was good enough to present to Lucy. Stalling Natsu prepared to venture to Lucy's apartment.

The pink haired boy had not seen Lucy since Valentine's Day, and he was really nervous to see her. What if she slapped him? What if she yelled at him? What if she hated his poem? Or worse, what if she laughed at him because Happy had lied about what Lucy had said and about the poetry writing tips or what if she laughed the feelings he held weren't mutual? The little ass would do something like that… Natsu shook his head violently. Strengthening his resolve, he gripped the card determinedly. He wouldn't let his stupid thoughts deter him from Lucy.

Putting the final touches on the poem and the card, he walked to his door. However, as soon as he placed his hand on the handle, his legs melted into a mess of jelly once again.

Maybe he would give it five minutes…?

Well over five minutes later, he managed to gather up the courage to venture out of his house. The walk to Lucy's seemed like forever, but once he had made it, he considered turning back.

_It's not too late to go home…_ His mind whispered to him.

_But then I would be wimping out!_ He shouted back in his head.

_You could "wimp out" or you could risk losing your friendship forever._ His mind hissed.

Natsu stood before her door in stupor. He really hadn't thought of that. What would happen if Lucy didn't like him? What would happen if she did? Would they still be friends? Damn. His mind is really, really horrible for doing this to him.

Before he could argue back, the door opened widely. Standing there clad in shorts too short for the end of February and a shirt entirely too tight, was Lucy Heartfilia. Shaking his head of the foreign thoughts, he gave her a big, toothy grin.

"Yo, Luce!" He smiled.

"Oh, hey Natsu…" She smiled unenthusiastically.

"May I come in?" he asked timidly. _This is already not going well…._

"Sure." she said, opening the door wider.

The dragon slayer walked into the door uncomfortably, hearing a subtle click not too long afterward. In silence, he sat down on the couch as Lucy went to the kitchen to fix something. Moments later, she returned with two piping hot cups of tea and a candle lit ablaze. Gratefully, Natsu gulped down the flame before taking the tea. Lucy sat down awkwardly on the opposite end of the couch, trying not to make eye contact.

This really wasn't going as Natsu had hoped.

"Um… Luce?"

"Yeah."

Not knowing what to say, he blurted, "Can I crash here for the day?" But he instantly regretted it when Lucy simply stared at him. "N-Never mind…" he sighed, getting up to leave.

"Natsu…" She sighed, causing him to stop in his tracks. "Look, you've been missing for days. How do you think I'm supposed to react?"

"I-I don't- I mean- I'm sorry…" He stuttered with his eyes cast away from her.

She shook her head. "You don't have to say anything. I was just disappointed that you ran away and then disappeared. I had nothing to do that day! There was a mission I wanted to go on…" Her eyes lit up with dollar signs, though her mood did not seem to improve.

Realizing that Lucy wasn't disappointed because he hadn't spent Valentine's Day with her for _other_ reasons, Natsu shook his head at his own stupidity. He really was dense sometimes… Feeling stupid, he replied dumbly, "Oh. Yeah. Um… I'm sorry. My stomach was killing me so I couldn't stay. And then, I was really, really, weak and confused for the last few days, so I didn't want to leave the house. It was like a really bad case of motion sickness." As soon as he had said motion sickness, Natsu grabbed his stomach in discomfort. Not only was he really feeling sick now, but he had only told half a lie. Hopefully, Lucy would not question him further.

Lucy looked at him with a look of disbelief, but then put on a smile. "Maybe you should have gotten Happy to come get me!"

"Y-Yeah…"He nodded in response, deciding not to mention he hadn't seen Happy until today. Suddenly remembering his objective, he reached in his pocket and pulled out the card he was going to give her. Even though he had just lied, and even though he knew she didn't like him, he decided to give her the card anyway. The dragon slayer had worked too hard to make it to waste it. "H-Here. Sorry, for not telling you, Lucy…" He mumbled.

Taking the card, Lucy's face softened. "Okay. You can stay here for today and tonight, but I'm still angry at you for Valentine's Day."

"H-Hai. Arigato, Lucy…" Natsu said, heading to Lucy's room.

The girl shook her head at Natsu's foolishness. The least he could have done was not told the truth about what happened. Regardless, she decided to open his card. It probably wasn't anything special. However, upon opening it, she was surprised to find a long scrawl of words in Natsu's own handwriting. Curiously, she began reading.

The Sunshine by Natsu Dragneel

Yellow is the sunshine's color, it is

Also pretty just like you, my loving

Lucille, nah, my Lucy, Lucy with the

Pretty, perfect golden hair, all long and

Silky, confusing idiots like this one who

Is shamefully writing a poem for

You, for this blockhead now has seen the true

Beauty his comrade holds, from blonde hair to

Sparkling brown chocolate eyes. I now must

Apologize, for I have been such a

Big dolt, this mind of mine has focused with com-

Bat way too long. Now, I shall treat thou kind,

You changed this snapped heart, broken, now fixed and

Now, I, Natsu Dragneel, have taken note

Of the sun, oh, how bright its rays do smile.

Surprised and flushed, Lucy flipped the card over to find a note scrawled on the back.

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Valentine's Day is over,

But I love you!

It's kind of embarrassing, Luce, but I'm sorry about Valentine's Day. Please forgive me…

~ND

Slowly, Lucy lifted her eyes from the paper to look at the room where the biggest fool in Fiore lay. Sure, he was a stupid idiot who lied to her and, prior to this moment, probably had no romantic bone in his body, but he had just done the most un-Natsu-like thing in history. Even though the poem wasn't the best she had read, it had made up for the last few days of inner turmoil she had experienced herself. A big grin grew upon her face a long with a rosy blue.

"Na-" She began, only to be interrupted by a loud bang that rang out from her bathroom, followed by an explicative from a certain dragon slayer.

"-tsu…" She finished with a growl. Promptly, she stormed across the hall and through her room to find said boy standing in front of the door with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Y-Yo, Lucy…" He grinned nervously.

Completely forgetting about his poem, she pushed him out of the doorway to find that her bathroom had completely self-destructed. The mirror had fallen to the ground, scattering glass crystals every which way, and somehow, the toilet had exploded, causing her entire bathroom to be flooded with water. In addition to this, part of her bathtub wall was broken, and her curtains were on the ground in a broken heap.

Lucy just stared at the mess in shock. After several moments, she managed, "H-How?"

"I was just… It was… I'm not sure…" He replied quietly.

Lucy turned to him, expression unreadable, causing Natsu to begin shake furiously. He hadn't meant to cause the demolition of her bathroom. Really! Had he mentioned that this wasn't going as he had planned?

Natsu flinched as Lucy lifted her arms up in what seemed like an attempt to kill him, but was actually an attempt to give him a stiff hug. Slightly confused, Natsu returned the gesture by wrapping his arms around her as well. The two stood in an uncomfortable silence -with the exception of the sound of water spewing from the toilet.

"I don't understand how you fuck everything up Natsu…" Lucy giggled.

"What do you mean?" He replied in mock offense.

"How?" She replied. "You mess up every mission, you break things, you screwed my Valentine's Day and somehow you even managed to break my bathroom after being alone for less than ten minutes!"

It really was true. "I'm sorry…" Natsu replied sheepishly.

"Iie," Lucy replied, shaking her head. "If it weren't for your innate ability to screw stuff up, things would be so… so… so boring around here."

Relieved to not be in trouble, Natsu smiled and held her away from his body, taking in her chocolate orbs.

"I wouldn't smile so quickly if I were you." Lucy glared dangerously. "You still have to clean _all_ of this up."

"Yes ma'am…" Natsu sighed, letting go of her. "I didn't mean to…"

"No buts! Just go get a mop!" Lucy growled.

"Aye sir!" He saluted, running out of the flooded bathroom.

Quickly, he ran into the kitchen and retrieved said mop. However, he slowed in his pace after he spotted his unopened card on the living room table. "Ne, Lucy," Natsu began, "What did you think of my Valentine's Day gift?" He asked sheepishly with a blush on his face.

"Other than the fact that you somehow broke my bathroom, I really liked it." She grinned.

"Really?" He smiled excitedly.

"Yeah, but you still have to clean my bathroom."

"Hai…" He whined.

Seeing the disappointment on his face, she added with a blush, "Maybe after you're done we can go for a belated Valentine's dinner?"

Hearing this, he perked up. "Alright! I'm all fired up!"

She smiled at his typical reaction to food. "Here." She added, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Happy belated Valentine's." Lucy grinned before leaving the room.

Natsu cupped his cheek in shock as the temperature in the room spiked tremendously. _Maybe Valentine's Day and love and all that other mess wasn't so bad after all,_ he thought as he stiffly began to mop the bathroom. Although he had spent the last week in his house and had avoided Lucy like the plague and had succumbed to the Valentine's Day virus, things were actually pretty good. He had received his first kiss! Happy decided against being an ass! He wrote a poem! And, best of all, Lucy was going to take him out for dinner! How awesome could the day get?

Suddenly, the sound of water began pouring in from the other room.

"Natsu! What did you do?!" Lucy screamed.

Well, maybe he shouldn't count his blessings just yet.

Happy belated! The End.

I don't know. Maybe if I get enough requests for it, I'll continue this with a tale about the entire Fairy Tail Valentine's Day? I kinda want to do it, but it'll be after a while because I have some serious tests going on this week. No dates promised! Please Review?


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